The present invention relates to a device for adjusting the tension of the strings of a guitar, in particular an electric guitar (1), or a bass guitar, in particular an electric bass guitar, having at least two strings. The present invention also relates to a device for automatically tuning the strings of a guitar or a bass guitar.
To correctly tune a guitar or a bass guitar, it is necessary to accurately adjust the tension of the strings that are strung between two points of attachment on these instruments, so that, as the string is struck, a standing wave of the correct frequency is created and thus the note desired is generated.
To this end, one of the two ends of the string of the guitar or bass guitar is, as a rule, rigidly affixed, for example, in a tremolo system block, and the second end of the string is wound around a so-called tuning peg and, by winding and unwinding the string on said tuning peg, it is possible to accurately tune the string. These tuning pegs are normally turned manually by means of peg winders which are turned to tension or loosen the string.
Especially in cases in which it is desirable for the string instrument to be tuned automatically, i.e., by means of a control unit which, based on a detected actual note of the struck string in comparison with a desired note, actuates a drive for changing the tension of the string, the tension of the strings must be changed automatically, i.e., by means of a drive.
A proposal for practically implementing such a device has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,126. According to the teaching of this invention, all of the strings together are tensioned and loosened by means of a lever which is attached to the body of the guitar and which acts on all strings. This device, however, is relatively large and clumsy and, in particular, does not make it possible to accurately tune each separate string.
WO 03/012774 A1 describes servo drives, each one of which acts on a tuning peg of a guitar so as to adjust the tension of the string that is associated with the respective tuning peg. The manner in which the servo drives are connected to the tuning pegs, however, remains unclear. The patent only discloses that the servo drives should be located along the side on the head of the guitar.